7 Killed in clash in southern Mexico
Chilpancingo, Mexico, Jul 27 (EFE).- Seven men were killed in a confrontation in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero involving members of a militia, authorities said Thursday.
They said that the incident occurred late Wednesday in the municipality of Tecoanapa, on the Pacific coast.
State police and army troops responding to emergency calls from the Buena Vista area found a burned-out house and four charred bodies inside.
All four of those men were agricultural workers who lived in the area.
Lying outside the home were the bodies of two members of the UPOEG militia, a self-defense force formed by various communities and civic organizations in Guerrero.
Two other men with gunshot wounds were taken to the hospital in Ayutla, where one of them later died.
A bullet-riddled vehicle with Mexico City license plates was left abandoned outside the house.
Guerrero was the scene a few weeks ago of an outburst of violence following the arrest of high-profile criminals. Gunmen set taxis ablaze – killing several drivers – in and around Chilpancingo, the state capital, and 13 public employees, including police officers, were kidnapped.
Figures released last week by the federal public safety department showed that Guerrero ranked eighth among Mexico’s 32 states for homicides in the first half of 2023, with 800 murders.
EFE fm/dr
